


She Had a Brother

by orphan_account



Series: A Lot To Learn [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-22
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:58:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver learns something about Felicity, and wonders about her life before she met him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Felicity was already at the computers (“her computers”, she was so fond of telling him) when he got there. His bad mood had not dissipated during the ride over, and he immediately flung his bag down on the ground and grabbed his bow.

“Whoa”, Felicity said when she turned around and saw the look on his face. “Who worked you into a murderous rage?”

Oliver glared at her, but answered nonetheless with a gruff, “Thea”, as he raised an arrow and released. It cut through the air, and burrowed itself in a wall.

“What did she do?”, Felicity asked, against her better judgement.

“She refuses to stay away from Roy”, he said tersely, raising another arrow. “Even though I explained to her that being around him is dangerous.” Once again the arrow hit the wall.

Felicity snorted, turning back to her computers. “You told a teenage girl that the guy she was dating was dangerous? Should have just covered him in chocolate, it’d have the same effect. My brother was never good at scaring me away from guys either.”

The sudden silence startled her, and she turned back around to find Oliver staring at her.

“What?”, she asked, self-consciously.

Oliver shook his head and glanced way with a shrug. “You never talk about your family. I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Oh”, Felicity responded. “Um, yeah. I do. I... did. He died a few years ago.” She hadn’t been trying to hid it, she just didn’t have occasion to talk about him often.

Oliver’s eyes snapped to her own, and a lesser woman would have shrunk under the intensity of his gaze. She held the look, though, until he spoke again.

“Do you want to talk about it?”, Oliver asked hesitantly. He knew he probably wasn’t her first choice.

Felicity smiled at the offer. “Not much to talk about, Oliver. He was a soldier. Soldiers die. But thanks, for asking.” She realized she didn’t feel much like working anymore, so she saved her work and stood up to gather her things.

“I think I’ll head home for the night. Try not to kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it while I’m gone.”

Oliver watched her leave in silence. _A soldier_ , he thought. _Like me._ Her words echoed in his mind. _“Soldiers die.”_ Maybe she wasn’t so unaccustomed to his world, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity thinks about her brother, Chris, and receives a call from her grandmother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wasn't really sure what I wanted out of this series when I started it. I think I'll just be exploring my take on a possible Felicity background, and the reaction when Oliver (and company) discover things about her. Thanks for reading!

Felicity made herself a cup of tea, and settled on her couch to watch a movie. She used to love action movies, but with how much actual action she saw in her daily life, she'd been picking comedies more often.

_Chris loved comedies._

She sighed at the thought. She’d been thinking of him almost constantly since her talk with Oliver earlier that day. She usually thought about him once or twice a day, but was able to move past it. Today,  though,  was different.

Oliver was right. She never talked about her family. People rarely asked. Even Digg, whom she spent more casual downtime with, didn't think to ask. And truthfully, she was thankful.

If she'd been asked 3 years ago about her family, the answer would have been straightforward. She was from the suburbs. Raised by her mom and dad. Mom was a school secretary, dad was an accountant. One older brother. A happy, normal family unit.

Even after Chris enlisted, even after he was deployed, things were okay. Then he didn't come home, and things just... fell apart.

Chris was her parents' pride and joy. He'd been a star athlete all through school. He was popular and well-liked. To top it all off, he was a sweetheart.

Felicity loved him more than anything. He was her best friend. Even though she was 4 years younger, and more often than not had her nose in a book or a dismantled hard drive, he made her feel important. He listened to her, even when she rambled. He was never embarrassed to be associated with her, and he always stuck up for her.

Losing him felt like losing a part of herself. An essential part. And she'd still been picking up the pieces when she met Oliver. He was a welcomed distraction from her life.

Maybe that's why she had agreed to help him when she found out his secret.

She worried about getting hurt, occasionally. Worried about her parents having to lose another child. Their last child. But helping Oliver made her feel better than she had in years.

She startled as the phone rang, snapping her out of her own head. She reached for the phone on the side table and answered.

"Hello?"

It was her grandmother, Ella.

"I'm fine, Grandma. Just sitting at home, watching a movie."

Felicity sighed and rolled her eyes as she lectured her about staying home, when she should be out socializing with other "young people". Felicity knew she meant well.

"I just had a long day. Thought I'd turn in early."

She closed her eyes and sunk back into the couch as her grandmother asked if she’d talked to her mom lately. No, she hadn’t. It’d been almost a month since she called her mom to talk, only to have her mom end up crying and making an excuse to call her back. She never did.

“Not recently, no. I’ll give her a call tomorrow.”

She smiled at the warmth in her grandmother’s voice when she told Felicity she loved her. It was nice to hear.

“I love you too. I’ll talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone and looked at the television. The movie was almost over. She turned it off and went to bed.


	3. The Secret Is Out

"Something is very wrong with this picture", John intoned, arriving at the foundry and seeing Oliver in front of the computer.

"Har Har", Oliver replied.

"No, seriously, what are you doing with Felicity's computer?"

"You know", Oliver offered, "they are technically my computers. Considering I paid for them."

John cocked an eyebrow, causing Oliver to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, I know", Oliver acquiesced. "Felicity mentioned something, and I wanted to look into it."

"What did she say?"

Oliver hesitated. "I don't know that she wants anyone to know. I don't know if she even meant to tell me."

"Oliver", John warned. Oliver could kill him in an instant, but he made him feel like a kid getting chastised. 

"She had a brother. He died. She said he was a soldier."

"Really?", John replied, surprised. "You think that would have come up before. I mean, she knows I served."

Oliver shrugged. "For someone prone to rambling, she is surprisingly tight lipped about her life."

"So what have you found?", John asked, pulling up a chair next to him.

"Nothing." John looked at him exasperatedly. "What!? 5 years on an island, remember?"

John just shook his head and took the computer mouse, pushing his chair over to knock Oliver out of the way. "I know she has the Armed Forces Database on here somewhere... Aha! Found it. Alright, let's type in the last name Smaok..."

"Anything?", Oliver asked eagerly.

"100 results. I didn't think Smoak was that common."

The jumped as someone cleared their throat behind them. It was Felicity.

"What are you guys doing?", she asked, irritated. "You know you aren't suppose to touch my computers."

"Ah", John stammered, stalling. "We were looking for..."

"Pizza!"

John gaped at Oliver.

"What?", Oliver whispered, harshly. John just shook his head.

"You two are the worst liars. I no longer know how you are able to do anything in secret."

She set her bags down, and walked over to the computers, shooing them away. "If you wanted to know, you should have asked. I don't appreciate snooping."

Oliver and John both looked guilty.

"My brother's name was Chris. He was 4 years older than me. He was my best friend. He died on a classified mission. I had hacked the database when he'd enlisted, to alert me if anything happened to him. I found out first that he had died. They didn't notify my parents for 2 weeks, since the mission was classified. It's been difficult for them, losing a child. It's caused some... tension, between us. I don't enjoy talking about it. Or thinking about it."

She smiled grimly. "I do, however, appreciate your concern. Even if you are both terrible at showing it."

John chuckled. Oliver just watched her.

"I lost my brother, too, you know", John offered. "If you ever need anyone to talk to..."

"I know", Felicity nodded. "Thank you."

John glanced between Oliver and Felicity, sensing Oliver had something to say. "I'll just go... away", he said as he stood and walked up the stairs to the club. Once the door shut, Oliver spoke.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have looked into it without permission."

"If you'd asked, you wouldn't have had to look into it at all", Felicity countered. "But, I know you have a hard time. With the words." She smiled as him mouth tuned upwards.

"I do", he said agreeably. "I should work on that."

"Probably. How about, while you do, we actually order that pizza. And you can go get Digg."

"Yes, ma'am", Oliver responded, leaving her to take care of the food.

 _They mean well_ , she thought.  _And they're family, too._ It felt good to not have Chris as a secret. She didn't want to hide him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending this nice and light. I hope you enjoyed. I'm hoping to continue this "Secrets" series, so check back! Mwah!


End file.
